Bich Cam Nguyen OAM

The range of services offered critical support such as welfare, training, housing, media, research, sports, recreation, rehabilitation and employment. Born in Vietnam in 1940, Cam arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1975 with her husband, Dr Nguyen Trieu Dan (previously Vietnam's Ambassador to Japan), and their four children, aged two to 11.

Cam completed a B.A. (Hons) degree at Cambridge University in 1962 and then a M.A. in 1966. She was fluent in English and French but had no work experience, so initially she worked as a clerk and an interpreter. Later Cam started teaching French to children and English to adult migrants. She did a Diploma in Education and a Graduate Diploma in Educational Administration while teaching at the Adult Migrant Education Services (AMES), becoming principal at the AMES Centre in St Albans in 1986.

At AMES, Cam played a pivotal role in lobbying the Federal Government to construct a purpose built education centre for the very large and growing immigrant community in the St Albans area in 1990. In the summer of 1982 Cam's concern for new arrivals from Vietnam led her to approach a number of Vietnamese professional women about forming a women's association dedicated to the welfare, settlement and integration of the Vietnamese community in Victoria. The Australian Vietnamese Women's Welfare Association (AVA) was formed in early 1983 with Cam as the founder and inaugural president, a position she held for 16 of the next 20 years.

From 1995 to 1998, Cam took on the full-time paid role as executive director of AVA during which time core staff were recruited and trained and the AVA experienced a quantum leap in the range of services provided. Cam succeeded in establishing the AVA as an excellent not for profit organisation with professional staff providing high quality services and in the process making it the largest Vietnamese community organisation in Victoria. Since 1998 she has again been honorary AVA president.

Thanks to her thorough understanding of both cultures, Cam has been able to act as a bridge between the Vietnamese and Australian communities. She has served on many committees including the Implementation Committee for the Establishment of the Independent & Multicultural Broadcasting Corporation (the precursor to SBS), the Victoria 150th Anniversary Committee, the Ethnic Communities Council and various committees and taskforces for the Victorian Ethnic Affairs Commission in the mid 1980s. In 1986 the National Returned Servicemen's League (RSL) awarded Cam the Anzac of the Year for distinguished service to fellow Australians. In 2002, she was made Ambassador by the City of Yarra for services to residents.

Cam embodies the values of generosity and inclusiveness. She works not just for the Vietnamese community, but for all Australians, particularly new arrivals from across the globe. Her vision is for a caring and harmonious Australian society.